Light Up Any Party With Trackdance

No one likes a dull party. The last thing a host or hostess wants is to find that their party has become the flop of the decade. But sometimes no amount of chips, dip and loud music can bring a party back from the dead.

But, for those with Trackdance by iWikiPhone.com, you may just be able to breathe a little life back into that shindig you’ve got there. With Trackdance, users can create a single person light show or, with the help of fellow iPhone and iPod Touch users, turn your party into one large, synchronized light show.

Trackdance begins with an animated introduction that quickly shows you some of the different effects employed by the application. You will then be redirected to the main screen where you will see four important buttons: View Tutorial, Light DJ, Solo, and Groupie. To begin, I highly suggest you peruse the tutorial for a wonderful overview that walks you through what each button entails. As you proceed, the tutorial will highlight each button or characteristic with a pop-up bubble that provides an explanation. Plus, the tutorial is always available for quick reference later on.

When you tap the first button, Light DJ, you put yourself in the driver’s seat so to speak. You are in charge of the light effects and anyone wishing to sync with your device will broadcast what you determine. You must start by picking one of the five light effects: Particles, Strobe, Wave, Text or Spotlight.

Once you’ve chosen an effect, you may change the settings and music by using the small arrow icon in the top left corner of your screen (bottom left corner if holding your device in landscape mode). Here, you can access the FX Settings, such as density, dimension and color, Change FX, which allows you to switch the light effect quickly and easily, or Add Music from your iPod, an external source or use one of the provided samples. The ability to use Trackdance with an external source makes this application a truly versatile party companion that can even join you for some fun at the club or a concert.

The two lower buttons on the main screen help you build your light show. The Solo button prevents others from syncing with your device, displaying the light show on your phone or iPod only. When you tap the Groupie button, your device will begin searching for nearby DJs to connect with, linking up the main light show to as many devices as possible. (Obviously, those wishing to sync with Trackdance will also have the application installed on their device, but I would like to think this requirement also qualifies as common sense.)

Unfortunately, however, Trackdance did pose one problem: I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out how to fully quit the application. Sadly, quitting doesn’t seem to be part of the tutorial. So, as a result, I was stuck with a red, pulsating bar at the top of my screen that simply said Trackdance. Perhaps I’m just oblivious to the obvious, but it would not stop pulsating and it would not disappear. Eventually, I had to reset my phone’s settings in order to finally get that annoying bar to disappear. And while I will give Trackdance the credit it deserves in the creativity department, I’m not a big fan of the headache it caused after all the fun was over.

Trackdance [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.